Typically there are two types of press lines for forming panels, such as vehicle body panels. These press lines include a tandem press line and a transfer press line. In a tandem press line, a plurality of presses are linearly positioned and a separate automated apparatus, installed between the presses, conveys a formed panel between adjacent presses. In a transfer press line, a transfer device is mounted to one press. The transfer device conveys a formed panel through two-dimensional or three-dimensional continuous movements.
In both such press lines, a panel is inserted into a press by a loader prior to the panel being formed by the press. After the first press forms the panel, the formed panel is taken out of the press by an unloader and a shuttle feeder transfers the formed panel to a next press for a next operation. By repeating these processes, the panel is moved between the presses. This system is referred to as a loader-unloader-shuttle feeder system.
Typically, a panel position regulating device is provided on a shuttle feeder. The panel position regulating device includes a base plate that is mounted on the shuttle feeder and a loading jig mounted on the base plate. A plurality of mounting holes are formed in the base plate and a plurality of loading jigs, often having different lengths, are fixedly inserted into the mounting hole with bolts.
The configuration of the loading jig is predetermined according to the panel to be formed, such that, the formed panel can be loaded or unloaded while it maintains its equilibrium state. Therefore, the panel, that is formed by the first press is extracted from the first press by the unloader and is then loaded on the shuttle feeder. Next, the panel is conveyed to the second press by the shuttle feeder and is then loaded to the second press by the loader.
However a drawback of this system is that such conventional panel conveying systems need a plurality of determined loading jigs to accommodate different panels and the loading jigs must be changed whenever a formed panel is changed.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is already known to a person skilled in the art.